Second Chance
by MrB145
Summary: If you were given a second chance what would you do? Would you live with no regrets or would you wallow in the guilt of past actions until they consumed you, body and soul?
1. Prologue

"Shepard!" Joker yelled as the Collector ship's blast ripped through the Normandy.

The artificial gravity finally gave out and Shepard lost his footing. Before he floated away he was able to hit the launch button for Joker's escape pod. His last thought before another blast bounced him off the walls into space was that at least his crew made it to safety.

The blast caused him to temporarily lose consciousness. When he came back around he was drifting towards the surface of Alchera and his suit had ruptured, leaking the air he so desperately needed. He franticly tried to cover the breaches with his hands only to have two more open up on his back. He flailed futilely trying to cover three holes with two hands.

His oxygen quickly ran out and he stopped flailing as his strength faded and he came to accept his fate. Not only was he running out of air and about to reenter Alchera's atmosphere but any emergency rescue ships from the Alliance would be hours away.

Oxygen deprivation set in and he became delirious. Visions from his life started playing across his mind's eye like a slideshow. He saw pictures of his childhood. His mother and father were both in the Alliance. They took him all over the galaxy with them, getting posted on different colonies or ships. He enjoyed what time he could get with them but the constant moving around never really allowed for long term friends or relationships. He was very outgoing and personable and thus made friends quickly. He had to, to savor the short time he would have with them.

At 18 he followed in his parents footsteps and joined the Alliance. The visions slowed as they focused on that first company of soldiers he had the honor of commanding. In his life of short flings and temporary acquaintances, that first band of brothers were the first he could call real friends. They laughed together, joked together, fought together, and on one occasion cried together when Johnny lost his life to a Batarian slaver's bullet on Elysium. The same mission propelled Shepard's reputation throughout the Alliance fleet.

His visions graciously sped through the mission on Akuze, the planet were he lost all his men and a piece of himself. He changed after that mission. No longer was he the charismatic and courageous leader of the best damn company in the Alliance fleet. He became a ruthless dictator with only the mission's success in mind and nothing else. Not his life or anyone else's. He proved that when he threw three-quarters of an elite strike team at a heavily defended bunker on Torfan. They were all slaughtered just to open up a weak point in their defenses so the rest of his team could get in and route out the remaining defenders. The leaders in the bunker attempted to use their slaves as hostages but Shepard killed them all, claiming the prisoners were dead when he got there.

His own father died during the fleet's assault on the bunker but he didn't even show for the funeral as he was immediately shipped out for another mission. His mission success rate was the highest of any commanding officer and on missions of high difficulty.

That's why they made him a Spectre.

* * *

"Udina, you can't be serious?"

"That's Ambassador Udina, _Captain_ Anderson, and I am always serious."

"I've seen men like him before. He's self-destructive. He's changed ever since that mission to Akuze. Sure he was top of the academy and a war hero because of his service during the Blitz but he doesn't care about his life or the lives of his team."

"He lost most of his men in that siege on Torfan and many more since."

"You lost more than that sending the fleet to bombard the bunker Admiral Hackett. And your right Captain Anderson, all he cares about is the mission. He has the highest mission success rate of any commanding officer on missions of extreme difficulty and those that serve under him come back stronger because of it."

"Those that don't go insane or AWOL…"

"The point is he gets things done no matter the cost which is what Spectre's do."

"Fine, but I will have nothing to do with this decision."

"Good, because you don't. Shepard and a Turian Spectre named Nihlus will accompany you to Eden Prime. The Spectre will evaluate Shepard's skills to see if he worthy of the Spectre status. From now on he will represent the human race."

"God help us."

* * *

The memories paused as Shepard saw a beam from the unknown vessel finally slice through the Normandy. The kinetic barriers holding the atmosphere in the ship gave way and the beam ignited the remaining air in one fiery explosion.

As if on cue, a flood of visions flowed into his mind. And again they slowed to a series of home movies from his perspective as something good entered his life. Even reality seemed to give pause, mid-explosion, as if the explosion were a dream and the visions reality.

The crew of the SSV Normandy. Together, they helped change him. Change him back into the man he was before Akuze.

The first to flit through his consciousness was Kaiden Alenko. He was a good lieutenant and a better person. Born and trained as a Biotic, he was always treated differently and with suspicion. He never let that change who he was though. He always did what he thought was right and was loyal to a fault. Shepard took it hard when he sacrificed himself to detonate the nuke on Virmire. Shepard went after Ashley and the STG team she had lead to the AA guns, telling himself he should save as many lives as possible. He also had a hunch Saren would show up and Shepard wanted him as far from the nuke as possible. He trusted Kaiden to defend the bomb against a few geth. He rationalized the whole decision, but it still weighed heavy on his heart, a feeling unknown to him just a few months before.

Next was Ashley Williams, a tomboy with a surprisingly feminine interest in the literary arts. A lot about Ashley surprised him which is what drew him to her initially. He quickly realized it wouldn't work between them and hoped she did too. They were both too similar, too broken. A relationship would only end in more pain and he tried to keep things professional. When Kaiden died and memories long repressed surfaced, Ashley came to comfort him and he could not put together an adequate defense. They shared a night together that he both loved and regretted. Now he would never know if it would work.

He also remembered his conversations with Garrus Vakarian, a Turian and member of C-Sec until Shepard found him. He was tired of C-Sec getting in the way of bringing justice to those that deserved it and joined Shepard thinking his status allowed him so supersede law and morals. As Shepard changed he grew to despise what he was and what Garrus was becoming. Garrus was turning into the man he was trying to get away from…the man that walked away from Akuze…the man that put the mission before everything. As they both looked down their barrels at Dr. Saleon, every fiber in Shepard's being told him to pull the trigger but he couldn't. He lowered his gun and told Garrus to do the same. Shepard ended up shooting the doctor as he reached for a weapon but he knew he had changed and had saved Garrus from turning into the monster Shepard once was. Without revenge eating away at his conscience, Garrus finally understood what Shepard was saying. You didn't have to be a monster to kill one.

Then there was Wrex, a Krogan of the Urdnot clan. They nearly came to blows when they meet because of their differing views on the Salarian's genophage but they also respected each other's prowess as warriors. Whenever they fought together they constantly challenged each other to do better. Their animosity turned to friendship when Shepard helped Wrex recover a family heirloom. At first he saw the Krogan like other species; as barbarians that needed to be crippled by the genophage or they would rampage throughout the galaxy. After his time with Wrex he realized that such a plague had devastated them deeper than most could tell but he still had mixed feelings as to whether it was right or not.

Liara T'soni was next though she was the last to join. She was dragged into the conflict because her mother was working for Saren though not of her own free will. Shepard regretted taking her on the mission to Noveria. He hoped seeing her daughter would change the Matriarch's mind but the indoctrination of Sovereign ran deep. It pained him to have to be the one to kill Liara's mother but she left him no choice. And when Liara grieved he kept his distance. She thought she was falling in love with him but he played it off as a simple crush since she was nothing more than a teenager in Asari terms. Asari could meld their minds with another species and, though Shepard never admitted it, he didn't want Liara seeing anymore of his mind than she already had. He was afraid that if she saw all he had done, what he was, it would break more than her heart. She was too pure and innocent to corrupt with the specters of his past.

His mind finally settled and lingered the longest on the last crew member, a Quarian engineer, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. She had found evidence that marked Saren as a rogue Spectre convincing the Council to let Shepard bring him in or bring him down. Her courage and ingenuity bought her enough time for Shepard, Wrex, and Garrus to show up and save her from Saren's assassins. After hearing of Shepard's mission, she saw the importance of it and asked to join, forgoing the continuation of her Pilgrimage, to protect the galaxy. As they talked aboard the Normandy, Shepard found her selfless nature and optimistic attitude naïve, even silly at times. He expected the harsh reality of battle to break her spirit but she never faltered. She continued to act only for those around her which Shepard came to respect, and then admire. It is the reason he did not hesitate to give her a copy of the data they found on the geth in a hidden base even though it was technically confidential Alliance data. Only now that he was drifting through space towards his death did he realize that she was the main reason for his change of heart. He led his team by example to be better soldiers. She led him by example to be a better commander and a better person. If only he had a second chance to tell her.

As the increasing G's mercifully sent his mind into unconsciousness before he felt the pain of asphyxiation or the burn of reentry, he looked towards the horizon. Maybe it was a hallucination or maybe it was from the haze of burning atmosphere around him. But his addled mind thought it saw that first company of men, of friends, appear in the building light. They were all standing together, shoving and joking around like they were getting ready for a picture. Just before Shepard's vision went completely black, they all seemed to turn towards him and wave in welcome.

* * *

**If you can't tell, I messed with the time line a bit and gave Shepard all three psychological profiles. It will make things interesting later and they seemed to go together well. Enjoy.**


	2. Chapter 1

Shepard woke to a blinding light staring down at him. He heard voices in his head but they weren't his own. People were approaching, talking to each other. They were faint at first but grew steadily until he could understand them.

"…something's wrong."

"He's reacting to outside stimuli, showing an awareness of his surroundings. My God Miranda, I think he's waking up."

Shepard looked left to see the one called Miranda approaching. She was definitely beautiful but not in the heavenly way. _What? What's going on? I died. Why am I alive? Where am I?_

Shepard kept up the string of questions but none made it to his mouth. He flailed feebly trying to get the woman's attention. She grabbed his hand firmly and none to gently to keep him from moving too much.

"Damn it Wilson. He's not ready. Give him the sedative."

Shepard looked to his right to see this Wilson. He continued to silently yell questions at the man but neither answered. He looked back to Miranda.

"Shepard, don't try to move. Stay still. Try to stay calm."

_Stay calm? I just died. I still remember it, still feel the pain. How can I be calm when I should be dead?_

"Heart rate still climbing, brain activity is off the charts."

Shepard started to panic. His new body could not properly handle the stress and was tearing itself apart.

"Stats pushing into the red zone. It's not working."

Shepard started seeing blue sparks on the edge of his vision. The sparks jumped on top of each like little animated bricks, filling in the gaps and covering his vision. Everything went blue as Shepard's new biotic powers built up to fight off whatever was causing the stress. Equipment around him started to crack and then cave in on themselves as localized mass effect fields crushed them.

"Another dose."

Wilson stared at Shepard in horror. He didn't want to get close enough to give the dose for fear of being crushed himself.

"Now! I'll hold him down."

Miranda activated her own biotic's and held Shepard's at bay. Wilson edged just close enough to one of the machines to hit a button. Shepard heard a hissing sound and felt himself become immediately tired.

"Heart rate dropping. Stats falling back into normal range. That was too close, we almost lost him."

Shepard laid back and allowed unconsciousness to take over.

"I told you your estimates were off. Run the numbers again."

The last sight Shepard saw was of Miranda looking into his eyes. He expected to see worry or concern like what most people would expect to see on a doctor looking at a critical patient. He saw nothing. It was as if she wasn't looking at a person but a computer that did something unexpected and she was wondering why.

When Shepard drifted off into a medicated coma Miranda stared daggers at Wilson.

"Well, at least we know the biotic's work" he said with a shrug and fake smile, trying to divert Miranda's anger.

"Wilson. When this over, pack up your office, whip your computer and turn in your security card. You're fired."

Wilson looked aghast. "What! Why? Just because he woke up on his own. That wasn't my fault."

"It doesn't matter. You have taken too many unnecessary risks and nearly ruined all the work we have been doing for the last two years. You're a liability" Miranda countered while turning to leave the room.

"You can't do this to me! I've been working here for 10 years! All of my research has gone into this project!" Wilson yelled back. His hands were clenched at his sides, holding back the anger rising inside.

"I can. When Shepard wakes up you'll have 24 hours." Miranda walked out of the operating room effectively ending the conversation. A very angry Wilson was left with a very vulnerable Shepard. He looked at Shepard as a plan was forming in his mind. He could get his revenge and escape at the same time.

"_If_ he wakes up."

"Hey Leon…"

"That's _Major Shepard_ to you guys."

"Not when were playing poker and I'm about to whoop your ass. Read em and weep boys, full house, jacks over kings." Much groaning and cursing came from those who lost and light laughing from those gathered around listening to the conversation.

"Touché Marcus, touché." Major Leon Shepard said as his lieutenant collected his winnings.

"Anyway, _Major _Shepard, you need to wake up," Marcus said, pausing in dealing the cards to point at Shepard.

"Oh really? From what?" Shepard said looking at his cards. '_Rockets, time to get my money back'_.

Marcus made a wide sweep with his arm saying, "All this."

"You just gestured to everything."

"I know, can't you tell this ain't real. Now, go get back in the fight. Galaxy still needs you dude." Shepard stared at his friend and comrade across the table. Confusion was written all over his face. Under the table, Marcus gave Shepard's chair a push that caused him to fall backwards. "See ya." Instead of hitting the ground like he expected, Shepard just continued falling, leaving the chair and poker game behind. Shepard quickly lost all since of direction as everything faded into darkness

Shepard was rocked awake by the vibrations of explosions and the sound of gun fire. Through the sound of battle a voice called out to him.

"Wake up commander. Shepard, do you hear me. Get out of that bed now. This facility is under attack."

He recognized it as Miranda as his eyes fluttered open. _Attack_ registered in his mind and hastened it into activity. He went to hold his head as a migraine threatened to split it. As he sat up a pain in his side took greater priority and he went to hold it as if his hand would magically make it go away.

"Shepard, your scars aren't healed yet but you need to get moving. This facility is under attack."

When he finally sat up and gritted his teeth against the pain he saw the _attack_ she was referring to. On the other side of some thick glass was an observation room, or what was left of it. Bullets whizzed by the portion he could see while explosions shook the ground his weak legs tried to stand on.

"There's a pistol in the locker on the other side of the room. Hurry!"

He was starting to wonder if he had even died as he hobbled over to the weapons locker. He was still fuzzy, but he could remember enough to know there was no way he could have gotten out alive. He sure felt like he had died as every pain receptor in his body seemed to complain with every step he took. He made it to the locker and found a pistol of a design he had never seen before. It was definitely of human make but it seemed to have a place to load a clip, something they had gotten rid of a long time ago when they switched to mass accelerated weapons. It also had holographic display around it. '_Must be a prototype'_ he mused. Inside were also some N7 armor and an omni-tool. As he struggled through putting the armor on he noticed it didn't have a shield generator. _'This is regulation armor for biotic's. Just my luck.'_ Then he noticed the pistol's holo-display said it was empty. Apparently it did take clips. He removed the built in ear-piece from the suit and stuck it in his ear to talk to Miranda directly.

"This pistol doesn't have any rounds."

"It's a med bay, we'll get you a clip from…damn it. Those canisters by the door are going to blow. Find cover."

Shepard looked to the door to see what she was talking about. Three canisters were sitting by the door and a broken pipe was leaking flames in their direction. Shepard instinctively dove for the rather sturdy looking railing around some medical equipment.

"Keep your head down and shield yourself from the blast."

The blast was absorbed by the railing but the heat filled the room. Several places on Shepard's face flared with pain. He looked at the transparent reflection of himself in the railing and saw several small scars. He was used to scars but these had an eerie orange glow underneath. '_What the…'_ Before he could finish the thought Miranda came back over the radio.

"Someone's hacking security trying to kill you. Look for a thermal clip for your pistol."

Shepard put his questions away until he could talk to someone face-to-face, he might have to punch them. He moved to the remains of the door, pistol ready and checking corners, as if he had ammunition. Through the door was a dead body, a sight he was ashamed he had grown accustomed to. Next to it was a cylindrical object that he assumed was a thermal clip. It fit into the bottom of the pistol. He fired a couple of times at the wall to get a feel for it then cocked it back watching a red hot piece of metal fly out. '_I see, reusable and no more overheating weapons.'_ The pistol's kick and power also seemed acceptable. He walked through another door to see a hastily built barricade made of whatever debris was available.

"Looks like they set up a barricade to try holding the mechs off" Miranda stated watching Shepard's progress.

After Shepard vaulted over the barricade, he ran into said mech.

"Look out!"

Shepard slid behind a crate at Miranda's warning. The mech stood up from a folded up fetal position and started firing at Shepard's cover. During lulls in its barrage he popped out of cover and fired. He was highly disappointed in his accuracy, a skill he was very proud of. He put many shots into its armored chest, not bothering with head shots, and finally took it down. The mech's last shot however went straight for his head but was deflected at the last moment by a blue barrier. He knew he didn't have a shield so that left only one thing. It wasn't just a barrier but a biotic one. '_I'm a biotic now?'_ He looked at his hand and focused, imagining the blue power he had seen other biotic's wield. The element zero and the L5n chip in his body made his thoughts a reality. Shepard clamped down on the tide of questions and emotions this realization brought. If he found this Miranda, anyone, they had better have some answers.

"Keep moving, we need to get you to the shuttles."

'_Oh, yes we do.'_ Shepard moved through another room with a few more mechs this time. By the time he was done with them, his accuracy had improved. His body was getting used to the feel of the weapon quickly and some of the instinctual shooting he was capable of was showing. As he continued on he passed be a window and saw two of the buildings staff engaging a very large mech. Its right arm sprayed bullets like an assault rifle with deadly accuracy. He was disappointed he could do nothing to help but he was also interested in the mech. It was a design he had seen before but it was in the development stages last time he saw it. '_How long have I been away?'_ An even more important question followed after. '_What happened to my crew?'_

Shepard continued through the few doors not sealed or damaged. He didn't know whether they were closed due to the attack or whether Miranda was guiding him the right way. All he could do was keep moving. He eventually lost the signal with Miranda but he did run across some offices. He pulled up whatever audio or video files he could quickly and was able to find that he had in fact died and someone was paying to put him back together. Paying an "astronomical" amount. The question was who.

After few more doors and another encounter with one of those large mechs he finally came upon another soldier pinned down by more mechs. Shepard took steady aim this time and put three bullets in three heads in as many seconds before they noticed him. The soldier looked up to see who took out the mechs and saw Shepard headed for him. "Shepard? What the hell?"

Shepard took the opportunity to slide into the cover next to the soldier as more mechs came through a door on the opposite side of what could only be called a bottomless pit. "Why don't you tell me?"

"Right. Sorry, about all this. I'm Jacob Taylor. I've been stationed here for…damn it." Jacob was cut off as the mechs locked on to them and starting firing. Bullets bounced off the guard rail between them, one very close to their huddled heads.

"Let's clean house first." Shepard said raising and taking aim. Jacob followed suit and they made short work of the remaining mechs. Shepard realized it was actually rather calming to be doing something so familiar. He almost smirked at the irony.

"We need to head for the shuttles and get you off this station," Jacob said heading for the door.

"Hold on, I need some answers." Shepard stayed put giving Jacob the option of continuing alone or answering some questions. Easy decision really.

"Fair enough, what do you want to know?"

"What the hell is this…?" Shepard raised his hand and focused the same way he had early and wrapped it in blue, glowing, biotic energy. "and why am I not dead?"

Jacob looked at his hand in genuine surprise. "Shit. They gave you biotic's. I heard what you did without it, can't wait to see what you can do with it. As for why, it's probably better to ask Miranda, she'd be able to give you a better answer than I can."

"Miranda? I think she was the one that woke me up. I lost contact with her a while back."

"She's tough. She'll probably meet us at the shuttles."

"One more thing, I saw a mech back there that was in development last I saw. I know I died but…how long have I been out?" Shepard dreaded the answer but needed to know. He wanted to know how much of his friends' lives he had missed and how long he had been out of the fight against the Reapers.

"You've been dead two years. When you first showed up you were nothing but meat and tubes. I'm no doctor but anyone else would have put you in a coffin. The Lazarus Project was different. All the top scientists to put you back together and just you."

"Two years? What happened to the rest of the crew? How many made it?"

"About 20 people didn't survive, mostly those on the sub-decks. XO Presley didn't either because of a fire that broke out on the bridge. Most made it to the escape pods including the non-human personnel." At first he was relieved. He expected the unknown ship to pursue and destroy the escape pods. But the losses brought him crashing back down. His crew was targeted because of him and 20 of them paid the price. A price well beyond what it cost to bring him back.

"Thanks for the information. Now, let's get out of here. I've had enough of this place."

"Right, I'm not sure where the mechs are the thickest but we should probably-." Jacob was interrupted as a familiar voice came over the radio.

"Check. Check. Anyone still on this frequency? Anyone still alive out there? Hello?"

"Wilson? This is Jacob. I'm with Commander Shepard. Just took out some mechs over in D-wing."

"Shepard's alive? How the hell…never mind. You need to get him out of there. Get to the service tunnels and head for the network control room."

"Roger that Wilson. Stay on this frequency." Jacob looked to Shepard.

Shepard got the unasked question and nodded. "Lead on."

'_Shit, Shit, Shit.'_ Wilson was pacing in server room B. He thought this plan would go over easy. He thought Shepard wasn't ready to wake up yet but he was and he was working his way towards Wilson. He had disabled the mechs friendly fire protocols and sent them all over the station, mainly focusing on Miranda. He wanted her dead with her pet project; Commander Shepard. Then he was going to leave on one of the evac shuttles and make a fortune off the illegal research he had conducted here. Unfortunately, both were proving hard to kill. The mechs would fire at him too so he wouldn't look suspicious. That is why he was in his current predicament. He took too long collecting his research and was now trapped. Wilson was knocked out of his revelry when Jacob came back over the radio.

"Wilson, the service tunnels are swarming with them."

"The whole station is swarming with them. Just keep moving towards the control room and try not to get pinned down. I'll see what I can do." An idea popped into his head. Why not use Shepard and Jacob to get out of here and then kill them himself. All he needed was a convincing story and to get their trust. Wilson placed the barrel of his pistol on his thigh. Before he pulled the trigger he set up the scenario.

"Oh God! They found me! Help!" Wilson cut the transmission shot to sound like he was desparate.

"Wilson? Where are you?"

"Server room B! Hurry! They're out of control!" He took a deep breath. '_This is gonna hurt…'_ The bullet went cleanly through his leg but the pain still hurt like hell.

"Oh God! I'm hit! They got me!" He sat on the floor waiting for them. The trap was set.

Jacob and Shepard reached Server Room B shortly after Wilson got hit. They found him sitting on the ground, holding his leg, and in obvious pain.

"Jacob. Shepard. Down here." Jacob kneeled down in front of Wilson to examine the wound. Shepard looked on the scene and became instantly suspicious. He saw no remains of mechs; no sign of a fire fight what so ever. It was like the mechs shot him and moved on. He was also shot in the leg which would have been protected by the waist high crates in the room and the only blood he saw was beneath the leg like he shot himself. _'This man is faking, but why.'_

"Bastards got me in the leg. Hgn-."

'_Well, he's not faking the pain.' _ "I remember you. You were there the first time I regained consciousness."

"Yeah. That was me. Can we talk about this after we fix my leg?"

Without looking up from his examination Jacob said, "There should be some Medi-gel in the first aid station on the wall. Hopefully there's enough to get him moving again."

Shepard walked over to said first aid station and found three packs. He handed two to Jacob and put the last in his own suits Medi-gel container on his back. Jacob did likewise with one of his and opened the other to apply liberally to Wilson's wounds since he wasn't wearing armor. Wilson got up slowly, wincing as he applied pressure to the wounded leg. The Medi-gel would staunch the bleeding and numb the area until real first aid could be given.

"Thanks Shepard. Never thought you'd save my life. Guess that makes us even now. I thought maybe I could shut down the security mechs. But whoever did this fried the whole system. Completely irreversible." He punctuated the last comment with a chopping motion indicating how irreversible it was.

"We didn't ask you what you were doing. Why do you even have security mech clearance? You were in the bio wing." Shepard was thinking the same thing but didn't speak up. Wilson realized he said too much and tried to cover.

"Weren't you listening? I came here to try and fix this. Besides, I was shot. How do you explain that?" Shepard thought he was laying it on a little thick but he didn't have time to figure this man's motives out.

"I don't trust either of you but you're all have to get out of here."

"We need to find Miranda first. We can't just leave her behind." _'Uh oh. If Miranda sees me she'll kill me,'_ Wilson thought.

"Forget about Miranda. She was over in D-wing. The mechs were all over that sector. There's no way she survived."

"A bunch of mechs won't drop Miranda. She's alive." This was Wilson's chance. Maybe he could blame Miranda and lessen their suspicion.

"Then where is she? Why haven't we heard from her? There are only two possible explanations; she's either dead…or she's the traitor."

"Then why did she wake me up and warn me? I would be easier to kill asleep," Shepard countered wanting to see what he was getting at.

"Okay, maybe she's not a traitor. But that doesn't change the facts. We're here, she's not. We need to save ourselves. The shuttle bay is only a few-." Wilson was cut off as more mechs entered the room and started firing. Everyone ducked for cover. As Shepard came over the top of his to fire Wilson fired an Overload pulse from is omni-tool at the canisters in front of the mechs. The resulting explosion staggered Shepard and destroyed the mechs.

"Now, let's get out of here."

"Agreed." As Shepard began to lead them out of the server room Jacob stopped him.

"Shepard, wait. This is getting tense. If I tell you who we work for, will you trust me?" Shepard turned around, his curiosity piqued.

"This really isn't the time Jacob," Wilson said limping forward a little hoping to urge Jacob on.

"We won't make it if he's expecting a shot in the back." _'Not from you at least,'_ Shepard thought.

"If you want to piss off the boss, it's your ass Jacob."

"The Lazarus Project, the program that rebuilt you…it's funded and controlled by Cerberus."

"What? I know they're human-centric but why would they save me? I destroyed a couple of their bases in my time and I saw some things there that were unpleasant to say the least."

"That kind of stuff is way above my pay grade. But basically—things change. The Alliance declared you dead. They gave up. Cerberus spent a fortune to bring you back. Look, I'd be suspicious too but right know we need to work together. I thought you deserved to know what's what. Once we're off this station I'll take you to the Illusive Man. He'll explain everything. I promise."

"If he expects me to be thankful, I am. If he expects me think that is enough for me to work for him, he can go fuck himself. But first things first, we have to get the hell out of here."

After another fire fight with the mechs they finally reached the shuttle bay. Wilson sprinted past Shepard and started to open the door to Docking Bay 2.

"C'mon, through here. We're almost at the-." The door opened and on the other side was none other than Miranda. When she saw who opened the door she looked…pissed.

"Miranda? But, you were-," Wilson stopped talking as bullet passed through his throat and spine.

"-dead?" Miranda finished as Wilson slumped to the floor dead. Shepard drew his pistol out of instinct.

Jacob caught up to see Miranda shoot Wilson. "What the hell are you doing?"

"My job. Wilson betrayed us all."

"I figured he was responsible for all this. Did you have to put a bullet in him?" Shepard said putting his gun away.

"He deserved nothing less. He sabotaged security, killed my staff, and likely would have killed us too. Now let's grab this shuttle and get out of here. My boss wants to speak with you." Shepard didn't like how emotionlessly she talked about the people that died here like they were a list of damaged properties.

"You mean the Illusive Man? I'll tell him the same thing I'm telling you, I will never work for him."

"Ah, Jacob. I should've known your conscience would get the better of you."

"Lying to the commander isn't the way to get him to join our cause."

"You knew what the Illusive Man wanted me for?" Shepard looked at Jacob with disbelief and anger.

"None of us did but obviously he has some kind of plan for you. Maybe you should ask him when you meet him," Miranda interjected, slowly drawing Shepard's attention from Jacob.

"Is that what this for?" Shepard raised his fist and called on the biotic power as he had before. It was getting easier.

"Yes. He thought you might need an edge. Again, he kept his reasoning to himself."

"Fine, let's go meet him. I need to punch someone." Shepard followed Miranda to the shuttle with Jacob not far behind; thankful it wasn't him getting punched.

Shepard stared out into the vast expanse of space as he reviewed what had happened today. Brought back from the dead, a feat that still made his skin crawl, by an organization that claimed have humanities interest at heart yet did grotesque experiments on all species, including humans. He had been dead for two years, his team was scattered, and the reapers were getting closer. He felt like he was drifting through that vast emptiness, the loneliness seeping in like the cold of vacuum space.

"Before we meet with the Illusive Man, we need to ask a few questions to evaluate your condition." She was not helping either.

"C'mon Miranda, more tests? Shepard took down those mechs without any trouble. That has to be good enough."

"It's been two years since the attack. The Illusive Man needs to know that Shepard's personality and memories are intact. Ask the questions."

"Let's get this over with."

"The sooner we start the sooner it will be done. Start with personal history."

"Okay. Records show your parents were in the Alliance. You enlisted and survived a thresher maw attack that wiped out the rest of your team. Do you remember that?"

"We were caught by surprise and I lost a lot of friends that day. Going through something like that changes you. It can break you, if you let it." Shepard's face became a mask of indifference and his tone suggested that the words were well practiced. Miranda could tell there was more to it but would keep it to herself for now.

"I read the report. Fifty marines died on Akuze. You were the only one who survived. Satisfied Miranda?" Jacob looked to Miranda to see if they could stop. He too could tell Shepard didn't want to continue.

"Almost. Let's try something more recent. Virmire, where you destroyed Saren's cloning facility. You had to leave one of your squad behind in the blast."

"We're done." Shepard's tone allowed no argument. He was beginning to wonder if she was getting some sort of sadistic pleasure in making him relive the worst scenes from his life. His reaction left Miranda with no doubt he remembered and so left it at that.

"Your memory seems solid. We really should run some more tests."

"Come on Miranda. Enough with the quizzes. The memories are there, and I can vouch for Shepard's combat skills personally." Shepard was thankful for Jacob intervening.

"I suppose your right. Let's hope the Illusive Man accepts our little field tests as evidence enough."

The silence stretched on as they traveled to a currently unknown destination for Shepard. Jacob did not like the silence and decided to ask a question that had bothered him for a while. "Hey Shepard. Why did you put the pistol on the right?"

Faster than either Cerberus agent could see, Shepard drew and aimed directly at Jacob's head. The movement was so fast that the pistol fully extended after it was already staring Jacob in the face. Jacob didn't even realize it was there until he heard the pistol's final click indicating it was unpacked and ready to fire. At which point he slammed his back as far into the seat as possible and exclaimed "Whoa!" For her part, Miranda didn't even flinch.

"That's why," Shepard said with a slight smirk. "Needs some tweaking though." With that he placed the gun in his lap, omni-tool hovering over it, making some slight modifications to the internal programming. When he replaced it back into its place on his hip it no longer compacted. "Sometimes the faster gun wins."

Jacob was still in shock and awe of what just happened."Damn."

"Impressive." The tone was sincere and respectful which sounded odd coming from her.

When they finally reached the station they were headed for, Miranda led the way pointing out the room Shepard could meet the Illusive Man and then settled into a terminal to write her report on the Lazarus Project. The former Spectre walked into the empty room, his mind on high alert. He thought he would be meeting someone face-to-face but all that was there was a partial glowing circle on the floor and ceiling. He stepped into the circle cautiously but nothing happened. A circular grid made of light then slowly rose from the floor. When it reached the ceiling the lights went out but a totally new room appeared before him.

"Commander Shepard."

The Illusive Man now sat before him smoking a cigarette. He looked to be upper 40's, early 50's with salt and pepper colored hair and in, most likely, a very expensive suit. But his eyes were what really got his attention. Not only did they glow around the pupil, possibly cybernetically enhanced, but they also seemed impossibly emotionless. It was like there wasn't even soul behind them.

"Illusive Man. I thought we'd be meeting face-to-face. I was looking forward to thanking you with my fist."

"A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know." The voice was just as devoid of emotion as the eyes suggested.

"And what is it 'you and I know'?"

"That our place in the universe is more fragile than we'd like to think. That one man – one very specific man – might be all that stands between humanity and the greatest threat of our brief existence."

"I'm flattered but I don't just stand between the Reapers and humanity."

"Which is admirable and why Cerberus has brought you back. How are you feeling by the way?"

"If I thought you cared, I'd answer."

"Cerberus isn't as evil as you believe. You and I are in the same side; we just have different methods."

"You're right, we do have different methods. Now what are the Reapers doing that made you bring me back?" The Illusive Man did not miss the implication of that first comment but continued on anyway.

"We're at war. No one wants to admit it but humanity is under attack. While you were sleeping, entire colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We believe someone is working for the Reapers just like Saren and the Geth aided Sovereign. You've seen it yourself. You bested all of them. That's one reason we chose you."

"I still don't get it. Why me? Why Cerberus?"

"You're unique. Not just in ability or what you've experienced, but what you represent. You stood for humanity at a key moment. You're not just a soldier. You're a symbol. I don't know if the Reapers can fear but you killed one of them. They have to respect that. And Cerberus is committed to the advancement and preservation of humanity. By the time the Alliance or the Council does something about it, there won't be any colonies left."

"If you're telling the truth…I might work with you," heavy emphasis on 'might' and 'with'. "I'll need to see what's happening myself."

"I'd be disappointed if you accepted any of this without seeing it for yourself. I have a shuttle ready to take you to Freedom's Progress, the latest colony in the abductions. Miranda and Jacob will brief you."

"I doubt you would go through all this trouble if the threat wasn't real. What can I expect to find?"

"If I knew that, I wouldn't be sending you. I brought you back; it's up to you to do the rest." With that, the Illusive Man cut the transmission. Shepard stood there for a moment taking in the enormity of the situation he was now in. '_I miss my old crew,'_ he thought morosely as he walked out of the room and on to Freedom's Progress.


End file.
